New MeSH Terms for 2021!

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year!!

Well, perhaps that’s a bit of an over-exaggeration, but it’s exciting nonetheless! The National Library of Medicine has released its annual list of MeSH changes, including highly anticipated NEW MeSH (Medical Subject Heading) terms for 2021!

The list covers a variety of changes and updates made to MeSH, including:

  • Updated terms — these are MeSH terms that have been deleted, changed, or replaced to reflect more updated terminology
    • 14 terms were updated for 2021
  • New terms — these are brand new MeSH terms added
    • 277 terms were added for 2021
  • Special projects — new terms added in specific subject areas to address needs
    • New behavioral and social science headings
    • New cardiovascular headings
    • New food/beverage headings
    • New infection headings
    • New organism headings
    • New persons headings

One important thing to remember is how to modify saved searches to account for the changes made to MeSH, as the changes will take place in mid-December 2020 and newly indexed citations will be reflective of these changes.

COVID-19 and its impact on MeSH

It makes sense that COVID-19 has been the cause of many of the changes going into 2021. From the onset of the pandemic, NLM was adding supplementary concepts (SCRs) throughout the year to include important concepts to help navigate the large amount of COVID-19 literature, but these supplementary concepts have limited functionality. So with 2021, NLM has announced an entire suite of COVID-19 and SARS-Cov2 related MeSH terms.

Some notable new terms related to the pandemic:

Stress Linked to Cancer Recurrence, Lung Cancer Metastasis Management and More

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  • Stress can re-ignite dormant tumor cells to cause cancer recurrence months or years after completing of successful treatment. A mixed animal and human study by an international group of researchers established that norepinephrine and cortisol, stress hormones released into the bloodstream when the level of stress is elevated, start a chain of biochemical events ultimately leading to reactivating the tumor cells. One of the findings in the human part of the study was the beta-blocker’ class of drugs ability to inhibit stress hormone signaling which prevented the reactivation of cancer cells. This finding opens up the possibility of beta-blockers use for cancer recurrence prevention. The study was published in Science Translational Medicine.
  • Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and John A. Paulson School for Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) used an unconventional approach to managing hard to treat lung metastases. They delivered immune system stimulating chemicals directly into the lung metastasis via drug-filled nanoparticles attached to red blood cells thus sparing the healthy lung tissues otherwise damaged by chemotherapy. The scientists also established that this method could halt further lung cancer growth and also prevent cancer recurrence. This animal research paves the way to new therapeutic options for metastatic cancers. The study was published in Nature Biomedical Engineering.
  • Another team from Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and John A. Paulson School for Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) developed a vaccine that combines chemo and immunotherapy in one injection. This animal research shows some promise even in difficult to treat cancers. The study was published in Nature Communications.
  • Researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona and Columbia University in New York City found a way to produce more hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) – self-renewing stem cells crucial for treating cancer, as well as other serious diseases. The scarcity of such cells has always presented a problem. While these cells are typically derived from bone marrow and circulating and cord blood this research established another way of getting them – by reprogramming other blood stem cells. The researchers used a special algorithm to identify a gene capable of reprogramming blood stem cells to acquire hematopoietic stem cell properties. This research boosts the opportunity for more patients to benefit from hematopoietic stem cell treatments. The study was published in Cell Reports.